Waterfront Festival gets $45,000 grant

NEW BEDFORD — The 2014 Working Waterfront Festival will be supported by a $45,000 National Endowment for the Arts, the NEA said.

NEW BEDFORD — The 2014 Working Waterfront Festival will be supported by a $45,000 National Endowment for the Arts, the NEA said.

"These funds will enable us to continue to provide a forum for the commercial fishing community to tell its own story and a unique and significant opportunity for the public to learn first hand about the lives, skills and traditions of the working waterfront," said Festival Director Laura Orleans in a news release. The Working Waterfront Festival features tours of fishing vessels, storytelling, cooking demonstrations and other activities designed to give visitors a bird's eye view into the lives of area fishermen.

The grant was awarded to the Community Economic Development Center of Southeastern Massachusetts, which organizes the festival. It's one of 832 nonprofits across the country to receive an NEA Art Works grant for a total of $23.4 million, the NEA said in a news release.

The Working Waterfront Festival, which is free, is scheduled for the weekend of Sept. 27.